Wireless LAN and E1505

So I needed a better solution for my wireless range and I bought an antenna for my Netgear router. Now while I improved my range I saw the the speed was really slow. I start troubleshooting this and I found out that it dosen't matter how close I'm from the router, the speed is a lot slower than what it should be. Does anybody noticed this? I have the Intel 3945ABG card. Now this notebook has expresscard slot and of course there are no wireless solutions for this slot yet. Any ideas on how to improve my range? I get max 2Mbts/sec next to my router.
By the way, I installed the latest drivers today from Dell. Are there any settings in the IntelProset utility that will improve speed?

Thanks and Happy Easter to all!!!

Laszlo

 

Netgear has a very good forum like this for users of their products. Just go to netgear.com and click on forum. I had to use it this weekend with my router and I got a lot of help. I got more help here then I did calling Netgear.

 

I did post there too about the antenna range but nobody answered.

Thanks

 

Laszlo

I don't have a specific answer, just some thoughts you might pursue. I went with the Dell wireless G card and I connect to my Linksys G router. I was astonished that the range was so much greater than my Linksys PCMCIA card.

So I would suggest you find one or more hotspots and compare the performance. My guess this will isolate the problem to the Intel ABG or the Netgear router.

FWIW,
Hermit

 

What do you mean with hotspots? I have another pc in the newrok with a PCI Wireless card and the speed is great so I think the problem is the Intel card.

Thanks

Laszlo

 

Laszlo,

Hotspots are wireless zones at various businesses [coffee shops, motels, etc.]. Simply go to a hotspot, click on your wireless icon, have it find a wireless connection. There are 100's of thousands of hotspots in the US.

Your Netgear router is a hotspot, you may have it password protected. If not anybody can do the above and surf.

Hermit

 

All right, I think the problem is already isolated to the Intel card. I only have 2Mbits downloads right next to the router. I was researching trying to get a wireless xard that will fit into my expresscard slot but I found out that there are none around.

Laszlo

 

So nobody is having problems with their Intel 3945ABG Proset wireless card? What about the Dell Wireless? What is the range you guys get?

Thanks

 

Its not always Intel's or Dell's fault. If you live in a high density area with lots of condos nearby, there is gotta be tons of wireless AP or electronic interference. Change your Router channel to 9 and see if it helps.

 

I get great range with my E1505 with the Intel 3945 card. My D-Link Router is in the basement of our house, and I get excellent signal all the way to the second floor. I haven't taken the laptop outside to see how far it will go, however. I'll run a test tonight and see what kind of throuput I get by copying a large file from my desktop to the laptop.

 

Try the Qcheck, Bottom: http://www.rtebb.net/downloads.htm .. you'll need to install it on both computers. I'm getting at best 18Mbit/s with Dlink 524.

 

This is what I needed. Thanks. Now I can run a test but the max I get checking with the speakeasy website is 2 Mbits. what is the bandwith you guys get with the Intel 3945abg? I pretty sure that the problem is the card if not a software issue.
any way to test the network bandwith between computers?

Thanks again

 

My intel/dell one is MUCH better than my Dlink 54mbps wireless network card in my PC. I used to get limited/no connectivity often and now I get "excellent" connectivity.

 

But what is the speed you get?

 

The speed of the internet?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. My home connection is 7 megabit. So long as I am connected, I get exactly what I should. The only difference is the strength of the connection for me.

 

So you tested and youget 7 Mgbits to your notebook thru you wireless card? Is it the Intel one?

 

Forgot to mention that I did the test with i6400 w/ intel3945, throughput test to desktop directly connected to the router(dlink 524). Got 16-20Mbit/s.

I'm on a 5Mbit internet line, getting around 4.7Mbit/s download with it wireless.

 

Hmmm, so why am I geting only 2 Mbits??????? I tried my other computers and I get 6 Mbits. It migh be the wireless card?

Laszlo

 

Did you try changing the channel to 9? Could just be interference.

 

I'm runing 108 Mbps with my other computer so I need channel 11 and I don't think the p[roblem is interference since the other PPC works great. Even standing right by the router I get this slow speed.

 

I give up.thye E1505 has a really ****py wireless card. I don't get why nobody else is worried about it. I bought this notebook to keep it for a long time, first notebook I ever have. The file transfer speed on this is really ugly.

 

I'm a total newbie, so all I can say is with a basic, $75 Bellsouth Versalink Westel router and the standard dell 1390 card, my e1505 has never ever faltered from full strength anywhere in our house and lightning fast speed - we pay for the upper middle bell south service plan of 3552 kb downstream - used to be 1200. It's very fast and I've used the notebook on the patio and upstairs in our bedroom, but primary use is downstairs. Router is located upstairs and an older dell desktop dimension 4600 is wired into it with ethernet. The desktop internet speed is the same on laptop and desktop because we only pay for the upper middle Bellsouth plan. I wouldn't doubt that it's the Intel card that is the problem though. I've had terrible luck with Intel 2200 card and vowed to get the standard dell 1390 card and just buy an Atheros card if it didn't work, but fortunately, the 1390 worked flawlessly with no trouble out of the box. All i had to do was enter our WEP key. We've never had luck getting the 2200 card to work for more than 5-10 clicks on the web without the speed dropping from 54 to 8 then to 2.

 

I have the same problem as you Lazlo.

Try changing the Power Save feature of the Intel 3945ABG to the highest level, it's not the optimal solution but it works for me (for now).


Known Issues & Solutions of the Intel 3945ABG:
PSP (Power Save Polling) Causes Connection Issues With Some Access Points

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-006205.htm

I have a D-Link DI-614+ and tried to upgrade the firmware but it didn't work.

 

I would suspect a bad card based on my experiences.

My E1505 with same card as no issue with strength/speed etc. Family i6000 with Intel 2915 has no issues either. File download is normall 180 kb/sec on 1.5m verison dsl with versalink mode/router. Wireless mostly used for internet surfing and Yahoo Messenger Video/voice conference(s).

Had an i6000 with Dell card - no problems. B130 with new Dell card - connection keeps dropping, strength/speed constantly changing => returned to Dell for complete refund + free UPS pickup.

Also have a Compaq V4000T with Intel 2200 and Toshiba M55 with Antheros card - no issues. Brother's Toshiba L25 - no problem either.

I would ask Dell for a full refund or new replacement unit.

 

I don't have to many disconnects but I do have rally low bandwith. I'm using windoews to connect to the Wilreless Lan so I think that Power Save function is disabled at the moment? What drivers are you using wiht the card and where is that Power safe function? I tried changing someof the settings at the Intel Proset utility before but everytime that I hit apply it did not change anything.

Thanks for the response.

 

I too don't have disconnects but low transfer rates to some sites. Try to change the Power management settings in "Start >> Control Panel >> Network Connections >> then right-click to select Properties >> Configure >> Advanced Tab".

 

I'll try that, this thing is really bad. I'm going to talk to support about it. I'm really surprise nobody else is complaining about it, I guess they don't use their network connection too much but for me is a must since I manage a lot of files from the server.

 

I'm running that ABG card on a 1505 with no problems. WAP = 3com's 3crwe454 WAP. I'm maxing out in the same room as the access point (3.0 mb/s). At a distance of 600ish feet through two walls, some trees, several racks of fishing spoons and an occasional camper, I get about 1/4 of the throughput.

The internal card even beats my old pcmcia Proxim card with an external buffalo ant in my buddies laptop. Both in throughput and range.

Inc

 

Ok, so what this means? "WAP = 3com's 3crwe454 WAP"

I'm runing a netgear wgt624 108mbps router in channel 11, my dektop pc works great, nice bandwith my Intel 3945 has really poor performance even close to the antenna.

What channel are you using?

 

Well I tried everything. It does not work. I found this post and I'll try to contact support tomorrow.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_modem&message.id=17993&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

 

Sorry for the delay, just got back to work.

I was just letting you know that my wireless access point was made by 3com and is model number 3CRWE454G72 (I forgot the last three characters). I would have to check to see what channel I'm using however. I had originally set it up at home where I have numerous neighbors with wap's and had to change the channel at that time. At my second job (seasonal), there is only one other wap and that is too far away to cause any interference.

I am tending to agree with you that it is probably a lemon card in your computer. To test this, I would install a program like netstumbler and find an open access point in your neighbor hood (Probably illegal) and check the bandwidth. Or the legal way would be to take your laptop down to a coffee shop or another internet cafe and check the speed there.

Good luck,

Inc

 

I did that already.
After three hours of chat the replacement card is being sent to me.

 

So here I am, with a new Intel wireless card and runs exactly the same as the old one.

 

So after some extensive research and borrowing another brand new E1505 I found that the problem is not the card but the pc. The transfers in both laptops were almost identical, so now I think that this computer does not allow transfers faster than 2mbits/sec in a wireless network environment. So I'll have another chat with Dell but I might be returning the notebook... Is the same thing as advertissing a car that speeds up to 60mph but you can only run it at 4mph. something is not right!!!!
If anyone is willing to do just a simple test for me and post the results I'll really appreciate it go to
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
and run a speedtest.

Thanks

 

Have you tried to upgrade the firmware on your router?

Also, do you have WEP or WPA turned on? If so turn it off and check your performance.

I ran QCheck on my E1505 and was averaging 20Mbps between my laptop and my desktop.

 

I just thought of something else you should try:

Run a test at the site you list above, using your wireless card. Note your results, then disable the wireless card. Run the same test, only this time connect your laptop via the regular ethernet port (wired).

If you get different results, then something isn't right. But you can't necessarily blame the card or the PC. I doubt it's either your card or your PC, since your friend's E1505 had the same results....it's too unlikely that these two PC's both have a bad card or something wrong with the PC itself. I'm suspecting your router either is in a 108Mbps-only mode or needs a firmware update. The network card in your other PC's may work ok with the older firmware (especially if the card is a Netgear), hence the reason you don't have the same problem on the other PC.

 

So you think it might be the router eventough the other pc's in the network work great?
I have WPA on. The router is on b and g mode, not 108Mbps only. I'll try disabling it. Via the ethernet port the speed is great.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try that tonight. What is Qcheck by the way? Did you try the speakeasy website?

Thanks

 

I just tested and got a speed of 4.75 Mbps...I have a 5Mbps cable connection, so it looks good to me.

Qcheck is a network bandwidth/diagnostic tool. You install it on your laptop, and then the client on another computer on your network. Assuming you are running Windows XP, disable the firewall (on both computers) breifly while you run the test. If you have any other firewalls (Zone Alarm, etc) disable them as well. This will show you what your network throughput is on your laptop. Download it here:

http://www.rtebb.net/downloads.htm

 

I had some troubles with WPA (mostly things like my connection would drop, and wouldn't return until I rebooted the router-no speed issues), so I just disabled it and it was fine. I have the DLink DI-524. I'm probably going to replace it with a Linksys WRT54G.

It's very likely that the 3945 card and the firmware on the router don't play nice. Newer firmware on the router may solve the issue...but that's not a guarantee.

 

laszlomdq, I also have a Netgear router. When the router was in b and g mode I got slower download speeds than with my old Linksys 802.11b router. Try setting the router to b or g only to see if it makes a difference.

 

Ok, I did and tried a few other things like updating firmware, disabling
WPA nothing works, still under 2 Mbps.
I can't believe you are getting 4.75 Mbps in your E1505. In my main pc I get 6 to 7Mbps when there is no tradffic. What router do you have? I might buy one and test it. I can't believe I can't get more than 2Mbps.

Thanks

 

You can't beleive I'm getting 4.75 Mbps? I'm not sure I understand what you mean...are you saying you think that is slow, or are you saying you think it's fast?

Time Warner Cable (at least in my area) only provisions for 5Mbps downstream speeds...so 4.75 Mbps is nearly full bandwidth, which is good enough for me. I'm not downloading all day and night so the speed is fine for me.

Now my in-laws have Optimum Online from Cablevision, and they have 10Mbps service...I'm jealous

I have a D-Link DI-524. If you really are going to get a new router to test I'd try either a D-Link or a Linksys....I read a lot of good comments about the Linksys WRT54G.

 

What I said is that with the Dell It looks imposible for me. I do have 6 to 7Mbps at my main computer but with the Dell I barely get 2Mbps. Why is this? It might be the router? I don't know... I'll get another one maybe just to try and see what is going on.

 

Ok I understand now. The other computer is wireless as well? If it is, what kind of wireless card does it use?

I think trying out a different router can't hurt anything...if you get no better results you can always return it.

 

Ok, I tried another router. The Linksys WRT54G. Speed is the same, barely 200 Kbps better but that's it. It should be a lot more.
I can't believe nobody else is commenting on this but not too many people maximize the use of the things they buy.

Thanks for the help

 

That's strange. Well it looks like we've eliminated the router as a suspect. The only thing left to do would be to call Dell and see if they will replace the card...I doubted that it was your card as your friend's E1505 was doing the same thing, and it's rare that two cards on two different systems would have the same issue...not impossible, but rare. If they replace the card and the speed is still slow, maybe try to get one of the Dell cards and see what speed you get. If you still are getting slow speeds it's something with the laptop.

Have you done a fresh install of Windows on this machine?

 

Well I thought it was the card too but I think is the machine now. I Have a fresh install since the very first day.

Oh, and I already tried a Dell 1390 and another Intel 3945 card, so.... I fell kind of frustrated but now I need to decide if I want to live with that or just replace/return the notebook.

This has to be a problem with every E1505, or at least a batch of them but nobody else is willing to try the speedtest for me.

Thanks again, I'll be chatting with Dell for a while.

PS: I really learned a lot about wireless now.

 

I have a WGR614 Netgear router and the E1505 with Intel 3945 card I'm using the ProSet drivers/software instead of just windows in case it matters. Like another poster said I find I get much better performance by setting both the router and the E1505 to use only G rather than "b and g" or some other combination. This is true of both my E1505 and an older Dell laptop with a Linksys WiFi card.
Have you run NetStumbler or something similar to see how many other wireless devices there are in the area and what channels they are on? Your desktop PC isn't affected, true, but if there's a lot of traffic on your channel and changing it happened to help the laptop it might be worth just changing it for the desktop as well.
You said you are running 108mbits and need channel 11 for that, but if I remember reading reviews of Netgear's 108mbit stuff it automatically drops to the max speed of the lowest connected device anyway, which would be 54mbit since the dell has a 54mbit card in it. [Someone correct me if that is wrong, I think this is true of most but not all routers actually, i.e. if you have a b device conected to a g network most routers will drop everyone to b speeds?]
I have only 3mbps connection to the net so not much comparison here since I only ever get 2.5-2.8mbps, but when I was running mixed b/g mode the card would consistently report low connect speeds to the router, running in g-only mode reports much higher connect speeds and large file copies across my network internally are MUCH faster.

 

Well at least for me I noticed that when runing g only I get barely 2Mbps in my E1505 and 4.5Mbps in my Dektop PC, now since my desktop PC has a Netgear 108Mbps card when runing 108Mbps mode or however you call it I get 6Mbps in my Desktop PC and the same 2Mbps in my E1505. It dosen't matter the channel tough, I tried 6 and 11 so far.

Thanks for the help

 

I just tried it tonight and my numbers were way above yours. Im using an old WRT54G that I bought about 2-3yrs ago. My tests were done on my 1505, my ever reliable HP 4600 with a broadcom wireless and my sons desktop with a wireless linksys PCI card no speedboost. All the results over several different channels and mixed mode and G only mode. Average transfer rates were 19.6-20.5 Mbps using the throughput test and I got pretty much 1Mbps on the streaming test. Hope this helps you out some.

I have the dell 1390 wireless in my 1505 and I am pretty impressed with the performance so far.

As far as my internet downloads across my network they blow.